An old family friend who reads this newsletter recently wrote, "I suspect that many of your recipes will be out of my low-cholesterol range, but I enjoy envisioning them." I am not a doctor, so I may be going out on a limb here, but: Though there are some obvious no-nos, many Italian recipes shouldn't be too hazardous. This is because Italian cooking tends to be lean; the fat of choice throughout much of the peninsula is olive oil, which is rich in the "good" cholesterol that helps remove the bad cholesterol that clogs the arteries. Moreover, in many first course and vegetable dishes olive oil is the only fat, and it is used in moderation -- at the most a quarter cup in a recipe to serve 4, and one could reduce it somewhat in many cases.

As an added bonus for the cholesterol-conscious, the grated Parmigiano one associates with pasta doesn't go so well with many vegetable-based sauces, or with fish-based sauces. So, if you want to enjoy Italian cuisine without worrying too much about cholesterol, look to pasta with vegetable sauces, and to vegetable-based main courses, for example peppers stuffed with eggplant or stuffed eggplant.

When it comes to meat dishes the situation obviously changes. Some things, for example the Piemontese brasato al Barolo, beef braised in Barolo, or the Tuscan Bistecca alla Fiorentina, a thick porterhouse steak grilled over the coals, will harden the arteries. Saltimbocca alla romana, veal sautéed with lean prosciutto and sage, will have much less of an impact, especially if one does the sautéing in olive oil. The key is in any case moderation. One can occasionally enjoy a small portion of a cholesterol-rich food, assuming one maintains a generally healthy diet, with lots of fresh fruit, greens, grains, and vegetables.

The Italian diet does quite well in this regard: grains in the form of bread, polenta, risotto or pasta, an abundance of vegetables and greens throughout the meal, and lots of fresh fruit for dessert. This, combined with the relatively small amounts of meat in Italian second course dishes (70-80 grams, or about a fifth of a pound, is considered quite adequate), helps explain why the Italian life expectancy is second only to that of the Japanese.

For more information on cholesterol and diet, see:

The Skinny on Fats: more than you'll ever want to know about them ;-) from Peggy, About.Com's Home Cooking guide.

A presto,
Kyle Phillips
Webweaver, About Italian Cuisine

Thoughts on Italian food
On Italian wine
On living in Italy
Send a card from the Italian Cuisine Post Office, or browse the photos!

Subscribe to the Newsletter
Name	Email